Don’t get me wrong, i think linguistics is a lot of fun and i get that it’s an interesting field. I just don’t understand what practical applications it has beyond understanding languages better. What do we do with that understanding of languages? Is it purely about seeking knowledge?
Someone, let the historians know that they aren’t creating history by studying it, too. History is already still going to have existed anyway, so its a total waste of time.
Same for economists… and chemists… and biologists… and geologists… Well, all sciences, really. Good news for engineers, though.
I didn’t say studying things was a waste of time. I agree that language itself is one of the most important and impactful inventions in human history. Linguistics though… not nearly as important, as language will continue to exist and evolve without it being explicitly studied. Your post didn’t answer the OP at all. Why is linguistics important other than for seeking knowledge?
Side note: Lemmy is a small community. You can try not immediately responding with a personal attack, it might encourage more discussion.
I think you and @rigatti@lemmy.world got caught in the words.
“History” can refer to the past events or their study. “Economy”, to the system of production and consumption or its study. “Chemistry”, to a set of properties of the matter or their study. And so goes on.
The same does not apply to “language”. The word refers to a bunch* of phenomena, but not their study. Their study gets a different name, Linguistics. So when OP is asking “what is linguistics for”, they’re clearly referring to the study; they are not asking “what are the phenomena called «language» good for?”
*at least three: a human faculty, a communication system relying on that faculty, and concrete instances of the usage of that system.
Side note, Linguistics is great to catch this sort of hidden polysemy.
Yes, this exactly. And thank you for being polite about it.